FOUR: One of those who ascribes himself to the da’wah (Salman al-Awdah) states, "And from publicising one’s sin is that a person boasts about his disobedience in front of his friends. He begins to proclaim that he did such and such. And then he begins to count off a list of sins. Such a one will not be forgiven!! Unless he repents, because the Prophet (sallallaahu alaihi wasallam) has judged over him that he will not be forgiven, ‘All of my Ummah will be forgiven…’. And filthier and more grave than this is that some of them will say, ‘I have unlawful relationships’, and ‘I have female friends’ and ‘I have {certain types of) magazines’. Such as person is satisfied with sinfulness. And some of them record their sin on tape and describe how they become deranged by a youthful girl and how they committed unlawful intercourse with her. And this is apostasy from Islaam. Such a one will remain eternally in the Hellfire! Unless he repents." [Cassette: Jalsah ala ar-Rasif].

And about the singers who distribute their cassettes amongst the youth and which invite the youth to lowly acts, he says, "I am at perfect ease (of conviction) that the one who does this, the least that can be said about him is that he belittles sin. And there is no doubt that belittling sin – especially when it is a major sin and its unlawfulness is agreed upon – is disbelief (kufr) in Allaah. So there is no doubt concerning the likes of these people that this act of theirs is apostasy from Islaam. I say this and my heart is tranquil and at perfect ease with it" [Cassette: Ash-Shabaab, As’ilah wa Mushkilaat]

I say: Certainly takfir and considering the divulgence and spreading of sin amongst the people by way of certain types of media to be a belittlement of sin that constitutes disbelief (kufr), shows the great boldness and courage towards making takfir on account of a major sin. It shows the lack of fearfulness and piety. And this is the methodology of the Khawarij, in that they perform takfir on account of major sins.

And what this person has mentioned about informing others about sins and the various evil connections that sinful people have, then it can be considered plausible, not absolutely the case (as this caller has portrayed) that it is due to istihlaal (declaring the sin to be lawful as a matter of belief). It is possible that ignorance could be the reason behind this evil act. And in such as case admonishment is desirable, not absolute takfir. This is the way of Ahl us-Sunnah wal-Jamaa’ah.

Belittlement (of sin) is not the same as mockery (istihzaa). Everyone who commits a sin, whether a major or minor sin, then he did not commit except after considering it to be minor and having belittled it. Hence the one who belittles sin is not the same as the one who mocks and jests.

FIVE: And yet another one (Nasir al-Umar) says: "The imagination that the evils present in our society are just sins? Many people now imagine that [involvement with] usury is only a sin or a major sin, and that intoxicants and drugs are merely sins, that bribery is a sin or one of the major sins. … No my brothers! I have investigated this matter and it has become clear to me now that many of the people in our society have declared usury to be lawful – and refuge is from Allaah!! Do you know that in the usurious banks in our country there are more than a million people. Allaah is over you. Do all of those millions know that usury is unlawful and that they have only committed this act while it is just a sin? No, by Allaah!! Due to the spread and abundance of sin, the great danger present is that many have declared (istahalloo) these major sins – and refuge is with Allaah" [Cassette: Taweed Awwalan].

I say the same as what I said for the previous examples.

However this statement is more damaging to the one who expressed it in my view and understanding. This is because he said, in exaggeration of the danger, that the various acts of disobedience that take place in the society such as taking usury, consuming intoxicants and acts of bribery, that all of that is not merely a sin or a major sin. And he swore and oath by Allaah over this.